Langham's doors to close
THOMSON -- Jimmy Langham's homespun television commercials for his men's clothing store literally put Thomson on the map, or at least told where to find it -- Exit 59, Thomson.

Business briefs
LOS ANGELES -- Harley-Davidson is on the brink of outpacing Honda in U.S. motorcycle sales and taking the lead in an industry Japanese manufacturers have dominated for four decades.

Business briefs
NEW YORK -- Stocks moved higher Wednesday, sending the Nasdaq composite index to its 12th new closing high this month.

Pinnacle Club considers move
The Pinnacle Club, a private dining organization, will not be moving from the First Union Building to what would have been the top floor of a new downtown hotel, club general manager Glenn Newlin said Thursday.

Cobb Jr. swung different stick
Being the child of someone famous is never easy. That certainly could be said for native Augustan Tyrus Raymond Cobb Jr., who grew up as the oldest son of a baseball legend.

Ty Jr. served as Dublin doctor
Charles Lombard Cobb had enough abuse from her famous baseball-playing husband, Ty Cobb, and first filed for divorce in 1930. She later held off, however, and gave the marriage another try.

Classics of Christmas hold true years later
This is the time of year for candles and carols and cards. Gifts given and received. Stockings hung and tinsel tossed. Poinsettias and holly and mistletoe. Glittering trees and glowing faces. Sumptuous meals at home and bountiful baskets for the needy. And somewhere, perhaps a few miles to our north, snow.

Bikers take their sport to the ice
Fast-paced motorbikes take to the ice. ... Whoa! Ice? Yep. It's all a part of the Speedway on Ice, which makes a pit stop Sunday at the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center during the 24th annual World Cup ICE Speedway Championship series.

Severe diets may ultimately add weight
Teen-age girls who go on severe diets or use diet pills or induce vomiting to help them lose weight are more likely to gain weight afterward and to be at risk for obesity than those who do not engage in such practices, according to a study by researchers at the University of Texas at Austin and Stanford University.

Christmas companions
The Augusta Chronicle's holiday pet photo contest drew more than 75 entries of dogs and cats. The pets were photographed in festive garb and s

Audience should expect to get a Ginuwine thrill
It's apparent that Ginuwine wants to mystify. In the introduction to his first album, The Bachelor, 550 Music Artist Ginuwine establishes early on that there is more to him than a chiseled face, sexy lyrics and seductive licks.

Season's screenings
Good little film buffs have some fine film fare at the multiplex for Christmas weekend. New movies include, clockwise, from right, Matt Damon in The Talented Mr. Ripley; Jim Carrey in Man on the Moon; Tim Allen in Galaxy Quest; and Jamie Foxx and Al Pacino in Any Given Sunday.

In the know
Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat, and our annual Christmas quiz deals with matters such as that. In fact, that jolly English jingle (or a version thereof) is the basis of one of the 20 questions designed to test your knowledge of our most joyous holiday.

Rooting roses the easy way
With a hearty, "Stand back, lady, and let me get that for ya!" I decided on a whim to help a longtime gardening buddy dig up four shrub roses that had overgrown their space. It nearly killed me.

Philly soul fills the O'Jays
For more than 40 years, the O'Jays have been performing their take on the classic Philadelphia soul sound for audiences.

Capsules
Contrary to the view that some young people may start smoking in an attempt to alleviate depression, Johns Hopkins University researchers have found just the opposite: Smoking may lead to depression.

Tune in to joys of the season
I won't tell you the meaning of Christmas, but I will share one of its secrets: It is a holiday that deserves to be enjoyed.

Tech stocks continue rally
NEW YORK -- The Nasdaq composite index topped 4000 for the first time and Dow Jones industrial also soared into record territory today as stocks moved sharply higher in a broad-based rally.
At noon on Wall Street, the Nasdaq composite was up 64.08 at 4,001.13, having already set 12 closing highs this month. The technology-dominated index, which is now up more than 82 percent for the year, first soared above 3000 on Nov. 3.

Americans warned worldwide they could be targeted
WASHINGTON -- Terrorism suspects arrested in Jordan have been linked to Osama bin Laden's network, but it is premature to connect an Algerian arrested while trying to bring bomb-making equipment into Washington state to the exile Saudi's organization, a senior Clinton administration official said.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government is telling Americans all over the world it believes terrorists may target them from now through mid-January, especially at holiday gatherings and millennial celebrations.
Airport security is being tightened, and manhunts are under way for up to three people suspected of ties to Ressam, who was arrested Dec. 14 after arriving in Port Angeles, Wash., after crossing the border from Canada, and for a California man said to have ties to a terrorist network headed by bin Laden, the alleged mastermind of the bombing of two U.S. embassies in Africa last year.

Bell Atlantic to offer long-distance service
The five-member commission agreed without dissent to allow Bell Atlantic to become the first regional phone monopoly since the breakup of AT&T 15 years ago to offer long-distance service to its local customers.
Analysts long have predicted Bell Atlantic would receive approval, citing a 2-year effort by the company to demonstrate its market of 6.6 million households in New York state is open to competition. That included tests by an independent third-party consultant to see whether Bell Atlantic's systems can handle orders sent by competitors for switching its customers to their phone service. -- The Augusta Chronicle

Company must remove waste
An Evans construction company has been given until March 1 to remove 327 flatbed truckloads of waste illegally hauled to an unauthorized disposal site in south Richmond County.

Revelers shy from holiday travel in '99
Millennium burnout may be keeping some holiday celebrants off the roads this year, when automobile travel is expected to dip for the first time in a decade and airlines are offering discounts to fill empty seats.

Grant lets child care increase
ATHENS, Ga. -- A $770,000 grant to the University of Georgia will be used to improve training for child care workers in the state.

Shoppers fill area avenues
A slow, torturous crawl marked the streets around Augusta's shopping malls Thursday as last-minute shoppers tried to finish their holiday preparations -- and today should only be worse.

Group approves classes
ATLANTA -- Georgia high school students could soon get credit for a class on ``Shakespeare in Films: Leonardo DiCaprio to Mel Gibson,'' but not the history of the Old Testament, after a special meeting of the state school board this week.

Plant breaks ground on addition
GRANITEVILLE -- The $24.5 million expansion of the Bridgestone/Firestone South Carolina tire manufacturing plant was made possible by teamwork, Steve Brooks, general manager for operations, said at a ground-breaking ceremony at the Sage Mill plant Tuesday afternoon.

Houses' numbers crossed
Clarence Darlington had to dial the number to a stranger's house to tell his wife he was on his way home Wednesday. His home phone number was somehow switched with James Abear's.

Mother of disabled girl asks for support
It's Christmas Eve. And in most homes tonight, children will prepare a plate of warm cookies and a glass of milk for Santa in hopes of getting some last-minute goodies under the tree.

Legacies show vibrancy
SALLEY -- The letter from the Library of Congress to Town Hall couldn't have come at a worse time -- two weeks before 50,000 people were set to descend on Salley for its late-November Chitlin' Strut.

Houses' numbers crossed
Clarence Darlington had to dial the number to a stranger's house to tell his wife he was on his way home Wednesday. His home phone number was somehow switched with James Abear's.

Winter wonderland
For the residents of Flintrock Way in Martinez, Christmas just seems to be getting bigger and bigger every year.

Agencies connect on Web
ATLANTA -- The Internet Age is arriving at Georgia social-service agencies, with the launch this winter of a statewide network that ties welfare offices to job databases and technical schools.

Micromanagement
Freddie Handy had a complaint. The outgoing Augusta commissioner, chairman of the Public Safety Committee that oversees alcohol sales, wanted to know why the committee was bypassed in granting a single event license to the Augusta Regatta to sell beer and wine at the 2000 celebration on Broad Street this New Year's Eve.

'Yes, Virginia ...'
Traditionally it had been the Augusta Herald's custom at this time of the year to reproduce an editorial that appeared in the old New York Sun in 1897, and which has been handed down as a journalistic classic. The author was Francis Pharcellus Church, but it was not until his death in 1906 that the Sun revealed that the editorial came from his pen.

Calls for 'a gift'
The Christmas season is upon us and that means it's time to think about buying gifts. Now the question is: What type of gift are you going to give Jesus? Let's not forget, Christmas is a celebration of Jesus' birthday.
Kevin A. Palmer, Augusta

Slams accuracy of savings story
The Chronicle wanted to do a story on saving for Christmas and the discipline behind saving. It's a perfect story for this time of the year and I volunteered as the perfect candidate. It's about a person who has never saved for the holidays or participated in her company's payroll deduction Christmas club. Her employer even contributes to this Christmas club and yet she still didn't participate and struggles to buy Christmas presents for her family.
Karen McCombs, Augusta

Blasts headline, non-analysis of data
I would like to take this opportunity to comment on Peggy Ussery's Dec. 13 article entitled ``Teachers' Absences Raise Abuse Concern.''
Robert C. Hicks, Martinez

'Fat tax' next?
The government was so successful at demonizing Big Tobacco that it was bound to use the same technique against other industries, particularly since it raised hundreds of millions in extra revenues for state governments.

Plugs Sutherland for Aiken Council
We need a new political environment on the Aiken City Council. We do not need a Council member's brother-in-law, we do not need another ``yes man'' and we do not need another liberal disguised as a conservative.
Ken Lane, Aiken

Rips Animal Control, commissioner
I would like to express my appreciation for the reaction from the community concerning the problems with the Richmond County Animal Control. Unfortunately, the concerns of the citizens have jarred no reaction from city officials. The Board has expressed disapproval of Animal Control Director Jim Larmer's job performance and issued a unanimous vote of no confidence in him. However, some of our commissioners are not as concerned.
Amy Sullivent, Augusta

Barnes' school agenda
For the most part Gov. Roy Barnes' hand-picked Education Reform Commission of business executives and legislators has come up with a constructive plan to improve Georgia's public schools.

Defends Bravespitcher Rocker
Before everyone joins the ``let's tar and feather John Rocker'' movement, we should remember a few things. The pitcher's attitudes and rantings are not indicative of the feelings or class of the Atlanta Braves organization.
Eric Gearns, Thomson

Underscores EMT, paramedic roles
On Dec. 14 I was appalled to read the article ``Firefighter Incentive Pay Hit A Snag.'' The article stated that the Augusta commissioners and their Public Safety Committee could not decide who within the Fire Department should get incentive pay of $1,200 or $1,800 for obtaining an Emergency Medical Technician or paramedic certification respectively.
Wes Davidson, Augusta

Working two jobs or odd hours increase accident risks
WASHINGTON -- Working more than one job, getting less than six hours of sleep or driving in the wee hours increase the chance of nodding off behind the wheel, says the first study of what causes sleep-related crashes, which some experts believe account for 15 percent of all wrecks.

Y2K problems could hobble manufacturers
TOKYO -- Leading manufacturers in Asia express confidence they are prepared for the Year 2000 computer problem. But when asked about their suppliers, they are far less certain.

Researchers make film 10 times more sensitive to light
Scientists say they have found a way to produce photographic film that is 10 times more sensitive to light -- an advance that could make true-to-life pictures of candlelight dinners possible without a flash or muted colors.

AOL buys MapQuest.com
DULLES, Va. -- America Online Inc. is buying MapQuest.com Inc., a leading provider of maps on the Internet, in a $1.1 billion deal that adds a popular Web service to AOL's arsenal of online offerings to consumers and businesses.

Spacewalking astronauts repair Hubble
SPACE CENTER, Houston -- Working more than 370 miles above Earth with ratchet tools, two spacewalking astronauts Wednesday fitted the Hubble Space Telescope with new instruments needed to restore its unparalleled view of the cosmos.

SRS study: Specimens mishandled
Officials at a Savannah River Site ecology lab have revised procedures after several radioactive samples from Chernobyl were mishandled.

Postal Service buys 500 electric delivery trucks
WASHINGTON -- The U.S. Postal Service says it will take a major step for the environment in using hundreds of electric vehicles to deliver the mail in California and the Washington D.C. area.